VfB Stuttgart's Arthur Boka challenges Borussia Dortmund's Lukasz Pisczcek (left) during their Bundesliga match in Dortmund on Saturday. The sides drew 1-1. Ina Fassbender / Reuters

Germany captain admits the race for Bundesliga title is already over

BERLIN - According to Germany captain Michael Ballack, the race for the Bundesliga title is already over as Borussia Dortmund shows little sign of loosening its stranglehold on the German league.

"Top place is gone for everyone else, Dortmund are too far ahead," said Ballack, who made his comeback on Sunday following a four-month lay-off from a broken leg.

His Leverkusen team is second in the German league, but 11 points behind the leader and Ballack could only watch from the bench as Dortmund demolished his team 3-1 at home 10 days ago.

Although the leader was held 1-1 at home by struggler Stuttgart on Saturday, Dortmund is on course for its first league title since 2002.

Having hand-picked his team since his arrival in 2008, coach Jurgen Klopp has nurtered several of his young stars up to the national team.

Mats Hummels and Kevin Grosskreutz made their debuts for Germany just before the World Cup, while Marcel Schmelzer and teenager Mario Goetze wore the Germany shirt for the first time last November.

"Dortmund have a young, success-hungry team with a good team spirit," said Germany coach Joachim Loew, who picked the quartet for the goalless draw with Sweden last November.

"Above all others, the way the Dortmund team plays has really impressed me. After their win in Leverkusen, they have the best chance of winning the German title."

As Bayern Munich announced its return to the title race with a 5-1 win at home to Kaiserslautern on Saturday, Klopp knows the Bavarian giant will not give up its title as German champion without a fight.

"If Bayern had our lead, it would probably all be over," said Klopp, whose team face Bayern in Munich on Feb 26.

"Nevertheless, we know that a lot can still happen and we have to just stay on our path."

The facts speak for themselves.

Dortmund has 15 wins from 19 matches, a goal difference of 31 and has only conceded 12 goals all season.

It has been beaten just twice: a 2-0 defeat at home to Leverkusen on the opening day of the season and a shock 1-0 slump at Eintracht Frankfurt in December.

Schmelzer, Goetze, the son of a professor at Dortmund's Technical University, and Turkey midfielder Nuri Sahin all came up from the youth team.

Neven Subotic, the towering centerhalf, came with Klopp from Mainz, while Grosskreutz, the fleet-footed winger, was found playing for Rot-Weiss Ahlen in the second division.

The joint top scorers, Japan midfielder Shinji Kagawa and Paraguay striker Lucas Barrios have bagged 16 goals between them and were plucked from Asia and South America respectively.

Hummels, who has been ear-marked as a Germany star of the future, was signed from Bayern Munich in July 2009 for 4.2 million euros ($5.7 million), Klopp's most expensive purchase so far, and has forged a strong partnership alongside Subotic.

Using its considerable pace, Dortmund is more than capable of flooring the Bundesliga's top sides with lightning counter-attacks or creating chances either down the flanks or through the middle.

Ballack has been the most prominent voice to question Dortmund's temperament if it is put under pressure, but his side's 3-1 defeat to the leader settled that debate.

Likewise, Bayern was beaten 2-0 in Dortmund when the sides met in October and Munich is now 14 points behind the leader.

Klopp, who was overlooked for Jurgen Klinsmann in 2008 as Bayern coach, has an easy media-friendly persona and showed his talent for comedy in a spoof interview last November.

Agence France-Presse

(China Daily 01/25/2011 page22)